Freedom Wars: The Start of a New Era
by Flores1314
Summary: Look in Author's Note
1. Chapter 1: Rookie

**Author's Note:**

 _Hey guys, this is my first fanfic, so I hope you guys will enjoy it. I may be able to answer your comments, depending on if I'm available to answer or not. Also, bear with me that it takes awhile for me to upload the next chapter, I am very new to doing this and I need time to have my brain come up with some ideas for this story and other stories I may have in mind as well (it's also because I have a life and school to finish up and those keep me busy at times). I hope you guys understand and enjoy._

 _Also, huge shout-out to my best and loyal friend (and senpai) MioAkiyama1298 for the inspiration and influence on me (P.S. I admire her work and it got me wanting to start writing stories as well). I hope mine will stand out on the other fanfics that are out there. Also, one last thing, all credits from a few lines by some characters (and character usage) go to Sony, JapanStudio, Shift, and Dimps Digital Innovation (if I missed anymore, im sorry), the creators of the game Freedom Wars. Thank you and let's get started ;)_

 _This is a Freedom War fanfic starring my character that I created from the game, but it doesn't follow the concept of the story. This story happens at a much later time, where much of the war for resources have gotten worse. Panopticons have built stronger abductors, better weapons, and the war for resources has gotten worse as the days go by. More sinners have been recruited at the age of 15 and up by the order of the OPS. Echo Jagger-Zenobia (let's just call him Echo), worked as a sinner for a long time, longer than you expect. He still has to work off his million years, and it sucked for him because he would get into trouble and get wrongfully blamed for it. Little did he know that one day his whole life as a sinner would be over soon, but with that happening comes a price. What is the price? Will he finally be free from this everlasting war? Or is this a trap? If you wish to know, then you must read to find out...(P.S. I will be using some real location and stuff to make it look kinda realistic, so yeah :P)_

 _Without anymore delay, here we go. I'm sorry for the long ass note, I'm just really nervous and excited to get started on this. Besides, this can help me find myself, since I'm doing that...I have no idea if that made sense XDD. (P.S. I know the things that I say isn't true, it's just what my creativity wants to flow with.)_

 _ **MioAkiyama1298 here, hope you enjoy this fanfic! He put a lot of work with this and I helped revise as well! ;) xP** _

_"Imagine, if you will, a single loaf of bread..._ _Now imagine that it is given to two starving men..._

 _Do they share it?_

 _Or do they fight to have it all for themselves?_ _Of course, with two men, the possibilities are limited._

 _One of them eats, or both of them eat._

 _Or perhaps neither of them eat..._

 _But imagine for a moment that there are two nations, each of them home to a hundred starving men..._

 _This time you have a hundred loaves – or shall we say a hundred sheaves of wheat..._

 _Two countries in the grip of famine, and not enough wheat to share between them..._

 _Can you imagine what happens next?_

 _Let me tell you..."_

 ** _Uwe "Sakamoto" Cabrera_**

 ** _PT Era 102014_**

 **Chapter 1: Rookie**

 _Year: 132014 PT_

 _Time: 18:25_

 _Location: Somewhere near the Mississippi River_

 _2nd Squadron Charlie 8_

 _"Charlie 8, this is Seagull, we're nearing the wasteland, eta 10 minutes. Standby."_

"Hey, Echo... Wake up, we're almost there,"

"Ugh..." I sat up, tired and sleepy. How long was I out for?

Whatever, I'm awake now, that's what really matters. I looked around and saw my teammates, along with their Accessories as well. You know, it kinda makes you smile when you're hanging out with people you know and trust. I hear the noise of our dropship taking us to our location.

Yep, just another day of this war. I took out my PRP (Personal Responsibility Portal) to check on my sentence. On the top right, it read,

"Total Sentence: 610,250 Years."

Great. I hope this mission is worth it. I began prepping my Will'O Box, making sure I had the right equipment.

"Hey rookie, how'd you sleep?" a guy with red spiky punk hair asked.

We called him Razz. He plays around too much, especially when I'm sleeping. Fucking jerk.

"I'm fine Razz, just needed some shut eye..."

Snickering, he responded, "Yeah, it must've felt good."

Gah, he's so annoying. Razz seems to like picking on me just because I'm still a rookie. I'm only 15, give me a break.

I sighed. I can't believe the OPS (Office of Peace and Stability) is getting 15 year olds into this...

"Hey, cool it and focus on our objective. You're already on thin ice as it is," said a man with an earpiece, a fedora, and a small knife necklace.

That's Phillip, but we call him Demo because he's, well, our demolition man. He's also a great teacher. He's the one who taught me how to handle my gun and how to improve its performance. He's also keeps Razz in line as well.

"Whatever, Phil..." Razz said with annoyance.

Our objective was to eliminate an MK3 Fire-Resistant Abductor. I've seen Abductors before. They're huge, monstrous-like machines that take resources and citizens from other Panopticons. I'll be honest, before I was recruited, I used to have nightmares about Abductors. But after a few years of doing these missions, I think I outgrew my fear of them. I kinda miss the old days though...

Well, the days I remember anyways. Like hell, if I were to live out my own life, I would be...

"You seem to be having another abstraction," said a female, robotic voice beside me.

I turned towards my Accessory. I called her Sierra. I had her made to resemble an old friend of mine, who was once a sinner. Why can't I remember her name though...

"It's called daydreaming, Sierra."

I hear a single beep noise from her, "This conversation has made me vague."

"Heh, you sure are something aren't you?"

Another beep, "Unnecessary conversation is a violation of the People's Charter. Your sentence has been extended."

I hear a low alarm from my PRP. I took it out and saw 250 more years was added to my sentence. Great.

I glared at my Accessory, but my anger quickly faded. Well, that was kinda my fault. I still have a lot to learn. I know it's her job to keep me in line but I wish she were more... sociable. I know she's just a robot and all but still...

I hear a door open from the pilot room. I look up and saw a bald man with sunglasses, a beret, and a cigar in his mouth. We called him Captain Dean, or Bullseye. Everyone calls him that because he never misses his shots. He also told me that apparently I'm "somewhat special" so I'm guessing that means he's gonna be expecting a lot out of me.

"Alright squad, listen up," he said, his voice low and formal. "The OPS has assigned us to take out a Fire-Type Abductor."

"Psh, not like we read the operation before we took off." Razz said, waving his hand dismissively.

"Hey, can it Razz. The Cap's speaking," Demo said, irritated by him.

"Thank you, Demo." The Captain continued, "Now listen up team, our target's a Mark 3 so make sure you watch yourselves out there."

He took out his PRP and shows us widen map that looked kinda like a battle layout simulator.

"Our intel suggests that it will be located somewhere around here," he points to an abandoned town, "we're gonna need flashbangs, sticky bombs, as well as some debilitators to weaken its defense. Demo, make sure everyone has that."

"Roger that, Captain," Demo said. He reached into his Will'O Box and handed out some of his inventory to the rest of the squad.

Captain looks at Razz, "Razz, we're gonna need a decoy mine in order to ambush it."

"Way ahead of you, Cap." Razz said patting his Will'O Box with a huge grin.

The Captain turned to me and sighed. "Echo, I'm gonna need you to stay close to me. You had one too many close calls and I can't risk that."

I looked at him, confused. "But sir..."

"No buts, we need you alive Echo."

I sighed, "Understood Captain."

"You know, I heard rumors that the OPS is gonna get rid of the Accessories."

"Really?" I responded.

"Yeah, apparently they take too much to maintain and people don't wanna go through the trouble since they're just letting them get destroyed anyways."

"That's crazy."

"Yeah. Good news is that if they do get rid them, they're going to be doing an inspection on every sinner's Accessory. If you pass inspection, you get to keep your Accessory, and have access to whatever you want it to do. If you fail, they'll trash it and give you with a security headset. From what I heard it's more strict."

"Security headset? You mean the headsets the OPS Accessories wear?"

"That's right, though I don't think you have anything to worry about since you're pretty much the only person in this squad who still actually has one."

I nodded "Mm."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a necklace with a cross on it. "Here," He held it out for me to take, "I want you to have this."

I took it. I noticed the cross had a small writing on it and squinted to read it. "Semper Fidelis?"

"It means 'Forever Faithful'." he said with a smile.

"I... I can't take this." I tried to hand it back to him, but he refused.

"I held that for a long time, and now it's time for someone else to have it."

I opened my mouth, but closed it afterwards. I nodded and put the necklace in my jacket pocket.

I heard some static and the intercom came on, _"Charlie 8, we're nearing the target location."_

"Roger that, Seagull. Charlie 8 out." Captain said. "ALRIGHT SQUAD, PREPARE TO ENGAGE."

I looked at my left arm, wrapped up in my Bind Thorn and clenched my hand into a fist. I took out my EZ Katze I SMG from the Will'O Box and made sure that it was fully loaded, which it was, thank god. I then swiped my right hand holding the gun to switch out to my Murasame MK9 knife. I looked at the blade to make sure it was in perfect condition. The blade glimmered a bit from the light and I saw my reflection in it. I transferred my Murasame to my left hand and retrieved an AAW-M2 RPG and handed it to Sierra.

"Here, we're about to begin."

"Roger that," she responded after two beeps, taking it from me.

The Captain saw me ready and nodded his head. We all went to the doorway and waited for it to open. A hissing noise came from the door, as it slowly started to open up.


	2. Chapter 2: Ambush

_**Year: 132014**_

 _ **Time: 18:35**_

 _ **Location: Koeltztown, Missouri; Somewhere near the Mississippi River**_

 _ **2nd Squadron, Charlie 8**_

"Gentlemen, we have arrived," the Captain announced.

I looked out onto the barren wasteland that we called Earth. To think that people used to actually live on the surface. As humanity was close to extinction, the OPS rose from the ashes and created safe-houses, called Panopticons, in several locations that are mostly populated. After these Panopticons were built, many decided that they needed most of the resources than any other Panopticon. This caused a cry for war and had many people fighting for these resources. Most of these people refused to fight, but then OPS decided to spread into all the Panopticons and made them fight. This was the first law that they created, and afterward another law was made for people not given a choice to fight, that law was the million-year sentence.

Everyone was given a million years and if they fought in the war, their sentence would be reduced depending on the mission. They also made another law that if you reduced all of your million years, you would be free as a citizen and were given a choice to fight or not. Soon after, they made a law where babies were given a million years once they're born and are put in the field once they're 15 years of age. Which sucks for me, since I just turned 15 last year. I wish I could've told my mom and dad that I didn't want to fight. Too bad I never got the chance to tell them. My mom died during childbirth and my dad died the same day during the retribution of 131 999, the year I was born. My uncle took me in from the Chicago Panopticon after the retribution from the Kansas-Missouri Panopticon, which is destroyed and abandoned now. Fucking hell, it's just one thing after another with no sign of improvement anytime soon.

I hear a whistle from Razz, "Man, this place has gone through some shaz. So much for this world..."

"Yeah, to think that it wasn't always like this," Captain murmured, his voice soft in tone while looking out to what was left in the world. "Let's get to work."

He jumped down from the dropship and after scoping out the LZ, signals us that it's clear. Razz jumped down next, along with me and Demo. As soon as we landed, I looked around the city ruins. Look at this place, it looks like a huge fucking ghost town. Even though I wasn't born the day before the Earth died, it's just sad to see the world in such a state.

"Alright, move out," Captain commanded, acting as the point man for the squad, moving forward towards the city center.

We moved in deep into the heart of the city. This place gives me goosebumps. To think that this world, once thriving with life, now dead and ravaged beyond belief. I saw Captain scoping out the area with his SR-42/LA sniper rifle.

"Alright, we'll lure the Abductor here," the Captain ordered. "Demo, scope out the area. Regroup when you have visual."

"Affirmative," Demo responded. I watched him go further into the city.

"Razz, set up the decoy and then take your position in that building."

"You got it," Razz replied, setting up the bait.

The Captain looked at me, "Echo, on me."

I followed him to a large building and watched him go up using his Thorn as a grappling hook. I look at my accessory, "Sierra, stay low here."

She nodded, accepting the order and went inside the building, hiding in the entrance. I used my Thorn to scale the building and saw the captain flat on his stomach near the edge of the building. I did the same thing, aiming my scope down below.

I heard static in my headset and heard Demo, "Hostile spotted, moving back to your location."

"Copy," Captain replied in his headset intercom.

"Bait, up and running," I heard Razz say.

In my scope, I saw Razz run off into another building as the decoy started to inflate into a fake citizen balloon bomb. As it was inflating, it started screaming for help as loud as it possibly could while my team and I patiently laid in wait for the Abductor.

"Regrouped with Razz, awaiting further orders," Demo announced on the intercom.

"Affirmative, on my command," the Captain replied.

I felt the ground rumble underneath my stomach. As I gulped nervously, I saw the huge humanoid machine tearing its way towards the decoy. The Abductor. It had missile launchers installed on both its shoulders, along with laser cannons on its forearms. Each step it took felt like a mini earthquake, its body slightly glistening red with orange like the sun. Yep, this one's resistant to fire alright. This was the target Abductor. It reached down to grab the citizen dummy with its enormous hands. As soon as it grabbed the bait, the decoy blew up in his hand.

"NOW!" the Captain bellowed, and he started firing at it.

I began shooting as well, feeling the force and recoil from my SMG. Razz and Bomb came out of their respective hiding spot and joined in taking down the Abductor. I saw a laser beam go out from Razz's Phalanx laser cannon, and a hail of bullets propelled from Demo's MG-M7 triple barreled minigun. The Abductor staggered with each shot, struggling to prioritize who to attack first. I ordered my Accessory to open fire and soon after, I saw rockets hitting the Abductor right at its pod, located in its chest. The pod exploded, stunning the Abductor and causing it to fall to its knees. We didn't let up, and soon after we heard another explosion coming from its Will'O engine. The abductor wailed in pain and collapsed with a loud thud, shaking the ground.

"Hold your fire, hold your fire!" Captain shouted.

We stopped shooting and gazed upon the toppled over monstrosity. The Will'O engine sputtered and slowly died out. I sighed in relief; it's dead, mission complete. I got up and started rappelling down towards the ground. Captain did the same and once we hit the ground, he started walking towards the dead beast. I signaled for my Accessory to regroup and we followed him.

"Good job guys," Captain announced after inspecting the dead Abductor. "Mission complete."

"WOOHOO! YEAH, THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" Razz screamed at the top of his lungs with child-like excitement.

Demo shook his head with a puzzled look, "Don't you think that was a bit too easy though?"

"Ah, who cares," Razz exclaimed. "we did our job. Mission complete, right?"

"Well, I guess so," Demo replied with uncertainty.

"Either way, grab anything that might be useful and I'll call in our evac," Bullseye advised.

We started plundering the Abductor scraps and stored them all into our Will'O boxes.

"Seagull, this is Charlie 8," I heard the Captain radio in. "Requesting immediate extraction, over."

 _"Roger that, we're en route, ETA 5 minutes."_

"5 minutes? Come on, can't they be faster?" Razz complained impatiently, taking a seat on the ground.

"Calm down, Razz," Captain told him. "Mission complete, remember? There's nothing we need to worry about."

As soon as he said that, Sierra made 4 beeping noises, "Enemy approaching," she told us. "4 o'clock. Type, unknown."

"What!?" I exclaimed, looking into a large decrepit alley with my gun out. The others readied their guns in that direction as well, startled.

"Contact?" Captain asked.

"Negative," Demo responded.

"Heh, she's probably bugged," Razz scoffed, walking out towards the enemy's possible location.

"Razz, get back here," Captain called out.

"What? There's nothing here. Watch."

Razz pulled out a flashbang and threw it into the alley. It went off and we waited for something to happen. And...

Nothing. Maybe he was right.

"See? What did I say? Now, time to get-"

Cutting him off mid-sentence, an unknown Abductor came crashing through the alley, smashing its way through the buildings. Everything happened so quickly; the Abductor grabbed Razz, lifted him up to its face, gruesomely ripped him in half and then tossed his remains to the ground. I saw Razz's face, eyes, and mouth open with shock. Holy shit...

"MAN DOWN! OPEN FIRE!" the Captain screamed.

We started shooting at it, but the bullets just ricocheted off of it, even though It didn't have any shield or weapons or anything a normal Abductor would carry. This Abductor was nothing like the ones I saw before. Its more human-like body was tinged with an eerie, unsettling shade of red, lacking the standard chest pod, and the most striking of all, it had a face, staring menacingly at us. Demo threw a flashbang at its face, but it had no effect.

"What the hell is this thing!? We're not even making a scratch on it!" Demo cried out in dismay.

"DISENGAGE AND FALL BACK!" Captain shouted, having stopped firing and turning around to retreat.

Demo and I stopped firing as well and ran away. I could feel the ground shake as the unknown beast gave chase. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sierra was running with us, thank God.

"URGH!" I heard Demo grunt, seeing him trip over a piece of debris. As he was scrambling to get back up, the Abductor caught up to him and stepped on him, crushing him.

"HOLY SHIT, DEMO'S DOWN, I REPEAT DEMO IS DOWN!" I shouted.

"SEAGULL COME IN, WE'RE UNDER ATTACK BY AN UNKNOWN ABDUCTOR AND IT TOOK OUT RAZZ AND DEMO! REQUESTING IMMEDIATE EVAC!" the Captain screamed into his intercom.

 _"Charlie 8, this is Seagull, we have visual!"_

I looked up and saw the dropship hovering over us, high above, with the doors opened.

 _"This is the lowest we can get without risking the bird! You're gonna have to Thorn your way up here!"_ Seagull told us.

"Copy! Echo, grab your Accessory and Thorn up! I'll be right behind you!" Captain shouted.

"Understood sir!" I scooped Sierra up in a bridal carry and launched my Thorn to a nearby building, wall running and slinging myself from building to building until my Thorn could reach the dropship. Once I was in range, I forcefully jumped from the building, soaring through the air as I aimed and fired my Thorn towards the ship. It hit the door and I felt myself zipping towards the bottom part of the door. I climbed inside, placed my Accessory on standby, then looked out. I saw the Captain try to do the same thing and as he was about to launch his Thorn to the ship, the Abductor grabbed him in mid-air and pulled him down.

"NO!" I screamed. I prepared to jump out, but the ship crew held me back. I tried to contact the Captain on comm, but all I heard was static.

I heard someone shout as the doors were closing, "Come on! Let's go, let's go!"

Did... Did that just happen? Razz... Demo... Captain... Are they really gone...? To think that only a couple of moments ago we were sitting here, going over the mission, thinking this was just gonna be like any other op. Finish the mission, then head over to Zakka for a congratulatory drink. As I sat in the darkness of the ship, I let the non-refutable fact sink in.

They're gone.


	3. Chapter 3: Congrats, Captain

_"Sometimes the worst place you can be is in your own head"_

 _ **Unknown**_

 _ **PT Era ?**_

 _ **Year: 132020**_

Time: 13:25

 _ **Location: Chicago Panopticon, CODE 1 Cell**_

 _ **Five years later after the ambush...**_

It's been five years ever since it happened. There was nothing I could have done to save my squad. Most people would have moved on and continue living their lives, but not me. I was only a rookie back then and I lost my team after 3 months of getting used to things. God fucking damn it, and here I am, on lockdown for 20 years ordered by the OPS for losing my teammates.

Sigh, I guess I do deserve this. I mean, it felt like it was my fault that I couldn't save them, I was only a rookie. There was nothing I could have done.

I look around my cell, it looked dead and barren. The walls and ceiling were rusted and the MRP (Main Responsibility Portal) in front of me was turned off. I moved a bit to get a bit more comfortable. My bunker bed squeaked as it did so. As I did that, I looked to my left and saw the door, looking very menacing the more I look at it. While looking at the door, I saw my accessory; deactivated.

It looks sad I know, but this feels more like a haven than prison. Besides the fact that I'm stuck here for 20 years until I'm available to go back into combat, this small room is placed to keep me sane.

I kinda feel bad for my accessory though. After they put me on lockdown, they shut down my accessory the day after. It's been 5 years later since she was deactivated. I always wondered if my accessory had feelings like me too.

Either way, the good news is that I've done 5 years in lockdown. The bad news is that I still got 15 more years left. And I'm already 20.

I laid down on my bed and closed my eyes to rest. 20 years old, 15 years more to go...fuck my life.

 _"Geez, 20 years they put you on lockdown. That's harsh."_

I opened my eyes and got up. Who said that? I swear, sometimes when you're locked up for quite some time, you can go insane.

I looked around and noticed something different about my cell. There was some sort of purple-like aurora surrounding my cell. I got up and went to go touch the wall. It still felt the same, cold and rusty.

 _"You sure are different. Way different than the doppelganger I met 30,000 years ago."_

I turned around and saw a fair-skinned young woman with green eyes and blonde hair. She wears a black hat with closed pink eyes, a black hoodie with the hood word right over the hat and a pair of arm warmers. She wears thigh-high length socks with numerous buckles going from top to bottom, along with a matching pair of high-top shoes.

I almost lost my balance when I saw her. How the hell did she get in here? More importantly; what did she mean by my doppelganger?

"Who are you?" I asked her.

She looks at me with her green eyes and was very serene by my question.

 _"Hehe, that's the same question he asked."_ She said while giggling a bit. _"My name is Aries M."_

Aries...why does that name sound familiar? I felt like I heard that name before.

 _"I've been planning to meet you for quite some time, Echo."_ She said, walking around me observing my body. _"Hmm, you have the strength and skills of your father."_

"Wait, you know my name?" I asked her. As I asked that, I saw myself lying down on my bed. "No...I can't be dead..."

As soon as I said that, she laughed. What was so funny, I'm looking right at my body.

 _"You're not dead, you dummy." She said, "you're asleep. This is the Immaterial Plane; the magical, mystical realm between life and death."_

"So...I'm not dead..." I said.

 _"Nope,"_ she said, _"Hmm, you look hella confused...that's understandable. You'll get used to it when I'll visit you more often."_

I shake my head. Like literally, this is too much for me to take in. Sigh, just go with it Echo.

"So, what do you-" As soon as I was gonna say that, she grabbed my left arm and started examining it.

"OW, WHAT THE FUCK!"

 _"Hmm...this marking, exactly like the other one."_ She said, tracing her finger on my birthmark. What the hell did she mean? I mean, it's just a birthmark.

She let go of my arm and crouched, still looking at me. I shook my left arm and looked at my birthmark; a scar shaped like an X. When I was born, my uncle said that I was born with it. I would of said that my either my mom or dad told me, but I never knew them from birth. My uncle told me that my dad died in a retribution and my mom ran away and left me with him. Boy, I am really unlucky. I always wondered how they looked. If only...

 _"Yep, you're the one."_ I heard her say. _"But I wasted my time just examining you. Someone's coming."_

I saw her fade away. "Wait!"

As she faded away, she said, _"We'll talk more another time..."_

Right when she said that, I felt my soul flowing back into my body on the bed; and I woke up, heavily breathing. I look around my cell and it looked the same, rusted and barren.

I sat down on the edge of the bed and shook my head. That dream felt so real. But was it real...

I heard my door open and looked up. I saw two accessory guard coming in, behind them a burly man with a suit, brown hair, and a curly mustache.

"Get up, sinner. Quit slouching around." He said, his voice firm as hell.

I got up without hesitation. I wanted to say something but I don't want to get into any trouble.

"Good to see you're doing well," the man said, "My name is John Finsk. But you lowlife worms will call me Mr. F or sir, you got that?"

"Yes, sir..." I said, my voice going silent afterward.

"Good." He said. "Now if you may not have heard of me, I am your new OPS director for this Panopticon."

He pulls up his PRP. "Alright let's see..." He pulls up a file. "Echo Jagger-Zenobia, age...now 20. Your accessory...was forced to be deactivated, yet still in good condition. You were sentenced to lockdown for 20 years..." He said.

I never used my other last name, Zenobia. Mainly because it reminds me of my mom, whoever she is. Why I wonder...

He pushes a red button on his PRP and a small beep was heard. He looks up at me and said, "Now no longer required to serve the rest."

I look at him, confused. Did he seriously delete my lockdown restraint? What the hell is going on?

"Listen here Echo," he said. "What has happened 5 years ago with your team was not your fault. We've been getting rumors from every Panopticon about that abductor. It's no coincidence."

No coincidence? What the hell did he mean?

He pulls out a cigar and lights it.

"This abductor is dangerous, its lethal, and its unknown." He said, puffing out a ball of smoke. "And right now, we need every man on board for this."

He looks at me. "Now I know that you been on lockdown for 5 years for the ambush. But that's all in the past now."

He drops the cigar and steps on it. Then he walks to the MRP and pushes a green button. The MRP turns on with a low hum.

He pushes a few buttons, then turns to look at me. "Once you receive your information, you can go ahead and head out. Just don't do anything stupid, or I won't hesitate to send you back to lockdown."

He turns and leaves out the door. The door slides shut heavily. I sat down and looked at the screen, waiting for the information.

On the screen popped out an orange bear with a blue hat and a microphone. It was Percy Propa; the OPS mascot. Oh boy, sometimes I'm glad to see him, and sometimes I don't. But who am I to judge.

"Hello and Greetings, sinner," he said. "I am aware that your lockdown restriction has been deactivated, and you are reactivated as a sinner; fighting for the Greater Good."

"However," he said, "your sentence is raised back up to 1,000,000 years ordered by the OPS. Does that sound good to you?"

I sighed, "It doesn't matter...as long as I'm not in that damn lockdown anymore."

As soon as I said that, I heard my PRP made a beep and saw my years rise up back to a million. Great, starting over again.

"Glad you can cooperate, now onto business," he said. "Recently, there have been many changes in the past 5 years. For one, no longer are sinners allowed with their accessory, and are now under surveillance on their own. That means that sinners must look out for each other, and they are injected with a life tracker."

"Great..." I said.

"A life tracker, or LT, is a new system that tracks the sinner's heart. If the sinner dies, the LT will go flat and make a long beep." Percy said, "This will alert the other sinners to rescue them and revive them. But if they don't make it in 1 minute, they are dead for good."

"So I'm guessing I'm gonna get one, huh?" I said.

"Actually," he said. "During your lockdown, you have already received one."

"Well, shit..." I said, sighing afterward.

"But surprisingly," he said, with a beep. "You get to keep and use your accessory and wasn't scheduled with an LT. But they gave it to you anyways, and in no chance of removing it."

Afterward, he rambled on about the war for food and resources getting worse and how they built stronger abductors, all that shit. I paid attention on some points, and I was surprised by most of it. Has it really gone to shit after 5 years? Man, if only Bullseye was here to see this...

"And for the final thing," he said, "the OPS has granted you with all the entitlements and has made you Captain."

As soon as I heard that, I got up. "WHAT?!"

"Congratulations, sinner," he said. " I hope you do your best for our Panopticon. For the Greater Good."

"Wait, I don't know how-" I said, but too late; he disappeared.

What in the crap is going on? How the hell was I made captain? This can't be happening. Sigh, whatever. Can't do anything about it. I went to my accessory and was about to turn her on, but I decided to leave her for a while. I went out the door and looked at my Panopticon...my home.


	4. Chapter 4: The Bar

_**Year: 132020**_

 _ **Time: 16:45 PM**_

 _ **Location: Chicago Panopticon, CODE 1 Section**_

The place was huge. Lights and cameras hung over the ceiling, watching our every move. The walls looked rusted as well, but a bit better fixed. Around me, there were other sinners; either hanging around in groups or just sitting on their own mumbling on their own insanity. Not only that, but there are 2 or 3 OPS accessory guards on each corner of the area. Yep, this is the area for Code 1 sinners. There are other areas as well for higher Code sinners. For one, Code 6-8 sinners and Second-Class citizens get the more luxurious and better resourced areas; where from I heard is better than the sinners lower than 6. Man, if only...

I decided to head to the bar for a drink after being locked up for so long, and since its getting late. I headed towards the elevator. As I was heading there, I noticed something very different about this area. There seems to be more sinners than there are of OPS guards. Not only that, most of the guards seem to be deactivated; I just walked past one and it didn't react or anything. Something's definitely up, and I have a bad feeling about it. Like I know it's Chicago Panopticon but why is this area...

My trace of thought was interrupted by the elevator arriving. I went in and went down to the hub. As I was descending, the elevator was kinda shaking and creaking...old piece of shit.

I got down to the hub and notice that no not many people or guards were here as much anymore.

I walked to the fueling station and was about to go in, but as I opened the door slightly, I heard a voice said, "Give me all of what you have, old man. And don't play no games with me either."

Another voice, what sounded like the bartender. "Get lost, laddies. I already told yuh, business is slow."

"DON'T PULL THAT CRAP! You see this here?" I heard the voice say.

"Yuh know yer gonn' get hunted down if yuh do tha', lad," said the bartender.

I heard enough. I went in to see what was going on and try to stop this. There I saw, a small gang; like 5 people with their gear, and the bartender behind the counter with his hands raised. The gang turned around and saw me. I couldn't make their faces because they all had helmets on, but they did wear red with black.

One with a falcon-shaped helmet said, "Who the fuck is this?"

Another, I assume is the leader, with a lead-colored helmet said, "Hey, get lost man. We're handling business here."

"Looks like a robbery more than business." I said.

The lead head sighed, then said, "Look I don't got time for this."

He signaled the falcon head with a hand motion, then the falcon head came walked towards me and grabbed me by the arm. Big mistake. I turned it around and planted the falcon head on one of the bar tables, bending his right arm backwards. I heard him screaming in pain as I was applying more pressure to his arm, feeling it ready to snap.

"Look, I'm giving you guys one chance," I said. "Leave now or your little friend is gonna have more than just a broken arm."

The lead head chuckled. "You don't got the guts to-"

I interrupted him by snapping the falcon head's arm in half. He screamed like crazy and was in serious pain. I learned breaking bones from Demo...rest his soul. I let go of his arm and grabbed his left leg.

"I don't play around. If I were you, I wouldn't mess with someone like me," I said, while bending the falcon head's leg.

"Alright," the lead head said, his voice concerned for his teammate. "We'll leave."

I let go of the falcon head and tossed him aside. They picked him up as he groaned in pain, then left the bar. I sighed, then turned to the bartender.

Luckily, I knew him well. "You alright, Buck?"

"Yah. Thanks for the help, Echo," he said.

I nodded and took a seat on one of the stools. Buck was a good friend of mine, and a great bartender. He was from the Ireland Panopticon, so his Irish accent mostly gives it away. He knows me well considering I always came here when I was with Charlie 8.

He went to grab a Shukler's beer; my favorite and usual, then handed it to me.

"Here yuh go, lad. It's on the house," he said.

"Thanks," I said, taking a drink from it.

"Sorry 'bout what happen to yer team," he said

I sighed, "Well, nothing you can do about it."

"Aye lad," he said. "I also hear the yer captain now."

He pats me in the shoulder. "Congrats, lad."

"Thanks Buck," I said. "I don't know if I'll be good as captain though."

"What 're yuh talking 'bout, lad? Yuh make a fine captain," he said. "Trained by the best."

"Yeah, I know," I said.

I finished up my drink and threw the bottle in the trash. "Thanks for the beer, Buck."

"Anytime," he said. "Yer always welcome 'ere whenever."

I got up and left the fueling station. As I got out, I got a message from Finsk, which said, "You got a big day tomorrow. Meet me at the launching station to meet your team."

Great, a new team. I really hope that I can do this. I took a deep breath, then headed back to my cell and into the start of a new life...for better or for worse.


End file.
